“It’s really something you can’t write up. And it was pretty special having my parents (Brian and Ema) here for them to share the moment with me.”

When was the most recent time Matthews scored four goals in a game?

“Probably a while ago in mites,” Matthews said. “Kind of speechless, honestly, as the periods were going by, you can’t really believe this is going on.”

Leafs coach Mike Babcock would have been happier leaving the building with two points and not one after the Senators won 5-4 in overtime.

But Babcock, even as intense as he is, wasn’t about to throw a damper over what he had witnessed.

“We were all a part of history,” Babcock said. “From my perspective, since I have been the Leafs coach, that is the best night I have had here by 10 miles. Not even close.

“Because now we have an opportunity. I know Matthews scored all the goals, I thought (Mitch) Marner in the first half of the game might have been the best player. I thought (Willie) Nylander was great, I thought (Zach) Hyman was great, I thought (Connor) Brown was great, thought (Connor) Carrick was great, thought (Nikita) Zaitsev was great.

Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

“I’ve never seen anything like (Matthews’ performance). But he is a good player. You see that second goal he scored, not many guys do that.”

Here’s what must be understood about Matthews: His maturity would put others, some veterans across the league, to shame.

Matthews was on the ice when the Sens won on a goal by Kyle Turris at 37 seconds of overtime, and when Matthews met media after, he immediately took the fall.

“That last play was 100 per cent my fault,” Matthews said. “We came here to win and we didn’t get that done. It’s a good learning point for myself and my team. We will be ready come Saturday (for the home opener against the Boston Bruins).”

Matthews, born in California and raised in Arizona, had three goals in his first 21 minutes 25 seconds in the NHL, and forget that the Leafs were in enemy territory. Hats rained on to the ice when he buried a pass from Morgan Rielly at 1:25 of the second period to finish the hat trick.

Matthews was the first No. 1 pick to score three in his NHL debut. He was the first No. 1 pick to score two in his first period.

Matthews scored on his first shot on goal, at 8:21 of the first, when he one-timed a pass from Zach Hyman past Senators goalie Craig Anderson.

It was the first goal of the 2016-17 NHL regular season by any player.

The second goal, at 14:18 of the first, was the most eye-popping.

Matthews made a mockery of the Senators who happened to be on the ice at the time, including Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman.

Eventually, Matthews stripped the puck from Senators captain Erik Karlsson along the boards, skated to the front of the net and beat Anderson with a low shot from a tough angle. Most seasoned veterans are incapable of orchestrating such a sequence.

That goal came on Matthews’ second shot on goal.

The fourth goal came courtesy of a pass from Nylander, an easy tap-in for Matthews on a two-on-one with three seconds remaining in the second period.

Nylander had been instrumental on the first goal as well, controlling the puck as the Leafs entered the offensive zone.

The most recent Leaf to score four in a game was Mats Sundin in April 2006 against the Florida Panthers.

“He got four scoring chances and he scored four goals,” Karlsson said of Matthews. “Two of them, most people probably can’t do. Good for him and good for Toronto for having a player like that.”